A traditional carriage used for pushing babies and toddlers includes a plurality of side stanchions. In most carriage structures, these stanchions enable the overall carriage to be folded into a compact configuration for storage or transportation. The side stanchions of the carriage frame support, in part, a sling or chair portion. The chair portion is mounted within the periphery defined by the frame to define an occupant compartment. Such a compartment is created, in a folding embodiment of a baby carriage, when the carriage is opened to an operational configuration.
The side stanchions of the frame define the width of the vehicle. Typically, a generally U-shaped push handle, having a width substantially the same as that of the carriage frame, extends upwardly and rearwardly from the occupant compartment. When the vehicle is so configured, the carriage or stroller attendant is, as will be able to be seen, located rearwardly of the occupant compartment and the child seated in the compartment. In fact, the attendant is positioned fairly significantly rearward of the forward portions of the carriage.
Such a relationship can create a dangerous situation. For example, where a parent is pushing his or her child in the carriage on a sidewalk and the sidewalk intersects a blind alley such as one where a corner of a building obscures traffic coming out of the alley, the stroller can be well within the path of a vehicle exiting from the alley before the attendant pushing the carriage is even aware of the approach of the vehicle. The degree of danger is, of course, a function of the relative location of the stroller with respect to the buildings straddling the alley. The closer the stroller is to the buildings, the more difficult it is to perceive the approach of a vehicle exiting the alley. That is, because of the location of the attendant pushing the stroller and a close proximity of the stroller to a building on one side of the alley, the attendant may only be able to view a foot, or, at the most, two feet into the alley as the alley is approached.
Even where the stroller is maintained at some distance from a building on one side of an alley, however, the approaching of the stroller to the alley can still be dangerous. While the attendant will be able to see deeper into the alley, the situation might still be such that, if the vehicle is proceeding too fast for conditions, the vehicle exiting the alley might make contact with the stroller before the attendant has an opportunity to react.
As can be seen, these problems in the prior art can result in serious injury to a baby being pushed in the stroller. In the extreme case, a child might even be killed.
It is to these problems and dictates of the prior art that the present invention is directed. It is an improved baby carriage construction and adapter handle which can be retrofitted to a state-of-the-art carriage which solve many of the problems of the prior art.